Prescott Newsletter Go Eagles!

Mr. Erin Roche Principal Amanda Malsch Assistant Principal Local School Council 2010-12 Jennifer Lister, Parent Representative LSC Chair Lisa St. Marie, Parent Representative LSC Vice Chair Kimberly Gow, Teacher Representative LSC Secretary Paul Carey Parent Representative Claudia Marmolejo, Parent Representative Eric Marcus, Parent Representative Tracy Roemer, Parent Representative Veronica Vides, Parent Representative Amanda Kirshner, Teacher Representative Jeff Hlavacek, Community Representative Erin Roche, Principal Prescott Partners Alliant Credit Union DePaul University Erikson Institute Prescott Parents Prescott PTA

• A Literature and Writing Magnet Cluster School • 2009 Golden Apple Award Winner • • 2010 Winner of Area 6 DRIVE Teacher Award •

• 2010 Winner of the Academic Improvement Award of the Illinois Honor Schools •

September 29, 2011

Dear Prescott students and families, It’s exciting to see the increasing parent involvement and collaboration at Prescott School! The Prescott School community honors parents as our children’s first teachers. As our children grow and learn, we parents, teachers, and staff need to continue to figure out ways to help children learn from our teachers at home (i.e., parents) and our teachers at school. We work together to support common learning expectations and experiences at home and school, so children better understand and respond positively. There are many examples of our growing parent involvement. Prescott Parents organized summer Prescott in the Park, and starting Saturday, November 19, Prescott Parents is sponsoring monthly Prescott Playtime. The Prescott PTA is organizing Room Captains for each classroom, so parents can be involved and help classroom teachers. Both Prescott Parents and the Prescott PTA have organized a number of fun fundraisers (UFO, Portrait Press, Walk-a-thon, and many others). The NCLB-PAC and Bilingual Advisory Council have met and organized as well. You can deepen your involvement at Prescott in several ways.

• Get on the Prescott Parents email distribution for regular updates and reminders regarding marketing efforts outside the school. Contact Jennifer Lister at (773) 248-2862 or jlister@buyersaccess.com.

• Join the Prescott PTA. Contact Mandi Kelly at mandisparkskelly@gmail.com to get on the PTA email distribution and help parent-teacher efforts inside the school.

• Help your child’s teacher. Contact Linnea Dietcher, our Room Captains Coordinator

at linnea@monkeyface68.com. She is working with your child’s teachers to coordinate field trip chaperones and other classroom needs.

Please consider getting involved on some level with the parent organizations listed. They need help in many ways—regularly or at weekend or evening volunteer times. Most importantly, ask your daughter or son each day about their school day, review their homework with them, and read a book with them and/or sign their Reading Log. You are your child’s first teacher and are vital to our work together to get our children ready for college-prep high schools. Sincerely, Mr. Roche Principal

   

Mon   Tue   Wed   Thu   Fri  3          

4   5   6   7          

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11   12   13    

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17  Classes  resume  

18  9:00am  2nd  Cup  of  Coffee  public  tour    3pm  Prescott  PTA  in  MPR  

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21  UFO  (No  uniform  only  for  students  who  purchased  UFO  pass  on  Thursday,  October  20)  

24   25   26   27   28  -­‐End  of  1st  Quarter    -­‐No  classes  for  students—Staff  Development  Day  

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   Parent reminders: Please make sure that your child is healthy and in school. Children who are not in school are not experiencing Prescott’s rigorous curriculum. The promotion policy for the Chicago Public Schools states that students in grades 3, 6, and 8 cannot have more than nine unexcused absences. Students with more than nine unexcused absences will go to summer school. Students can be dropped off at the playground as early as 8:30 when there is supervision. Students may not be dropped off earlier than 8:30am because there is no supervision at that time. Thank you for making Prescott School a safe place for children.    

No classes during Fall Break—September 29-October 16

Practice fun math at www.ixl.com everyday!  

No classes during Fall Break—September 29-October 16

Read a book at www.Raz-Kids.com everyday!  

Classroom visitations: Parents are welcome to visit and volunteer in classrooms. To volunteer, please pick up a volunteer packet in the main office and complete and submit it to Ms. Daniels in the main office. To visit classrooms, please write to Principal Roche to request the date, the visit’s purpose, and approximate duration of the visit. Every effort will be made to accommodate requests. Please allow at least five school days for a response, so we can make sure that there is

not a conflict such as a field trip. Non-parent visits must be approved by parents (in writing) and the school. Visitors and volunteers must comply with CPS and Prescott expectations regarding appropriate behavior and disruption of student learning. This publication of this procedure complies with CPS policy.  Please reserve Halloween costumes for home parties or trick-or-treating after school on Monday, October 31st. Some classroom teachers have organized a brief party at the end of school day on Friday, October 29. Please see your child’s teacher for more information. Students who bring costumes to school will be asked to change into the school uniform. How does Prescott’s calendar help our students’ math skills?

Dr. Harris Cooper is the Chair of the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University. His review of 39 studies “confirmed that, on average, achievement test scores declined between spring and fall, and the loss was more pronounced for math than reading. The reason for this subject matter difference is simple: kid’s out-of-school environments provide more opportunities to practice reading skills than math. Students, regardless of economic status, lost roughly equal amounts of math skills over time during summer.” This was taken from the New York Times’ “Room for Debate: A Running Commentary on the News.”  

Thanks to retired Bell School Principal Bob Guercio for helping Prescott School in August and September while new Assistant Principal Amanda

Malsch received her administrative certificate from the state. Mr. Guercio brought his 24 years of principal wisdom from Bell and Agassiz Schools to help Prescott run smoothly. Thanks, Mr. Guercio! Thanks to Paula Corwin and Jennifer Farrell for volunteering to help with the Prescott School newsletter. Thanks to Caryn Sanders for organizing donations to the College Hall of Flags project in the second floor hallway. Thanks to Lisa St. Marie and Stephanie Denkwalter for facilitating the monthly UFO (Uniform Free Option). Kids love it!

Thanks to Sinta Kubalanza for organizing Box Tops, Labels for Kids, and other point-generating

memberships that contribute money to Prescott School.  

   

e celebrated our Fall Family Reading Night on Wednesday, September 21.

What a great turnout! Over 160 people came to see 8th grader Anecia Serowski’s world debut of her play Little Red Robbin’ the Hood. Prescott families and teachers celebrated reading together. We watched Anecia Serowski’s play, read nursery rhymes and fairy tales, and listened to students’ original short stories & poems. Thanks to teachers for all their preparation for Fall Family Reading Night: Ms. Tate (police officer), Ms. Brand (tree), Ms. Lindsey (Big Bad Wolf), Ms. Phares (Prince of Thieves), Ms. Kirshner (Rockin’ Robin), Ms. Kolb (tree), Ms. Rutkowski (Little Red Riding Hood), Ms. Gow (narrator), Ms. Brennan (camera), and Mr. Roche (tree). See you all at the Spring Family Reading night! Come See Student Artwork on Display! Ms. Katele, our Prescott Art Teacher, and Heartland Alliance created a

showcase of our student artwork.

Join us on October 11 to celebrate the display opening! You will see artwork created by Alana Berry, Danny Campos, Jacquline Avila, Kayla Redmond, and Jacqueline DelAngel. Congratulations to these student artists!

Tuesday, October 11 3:30 - 5:30 p.m.

Heartland International Health Center 3048 N. Wilton Avenue

Chicago, IL 60657

hank you to all who participated in the College Hall of Flags initiative. We received enough gifts to fund 32 college flags for the second floor hallway. We can’t wait to see the display!

If you are still interested in participating in the project, please contact Caryn Marcus at carynsandersmarcus@yahoo.com or call (312) 339–3212.

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Chatting With: Ms.Brand, Pre-Kindergarten Q: Can you tell us a little about your background? I received my BS in human development, with a specialization in early childhood education at Cornell University and my MS in early childhood education from Erikson Institute. I also studied Spanish for 3 months in Nicaragua and 3 months in Guatemala. I am thrilled to be in my fourth year teaching Preschool for All at Prescott! Before coming to Prescott, I taught students in Pre-K through first grade in Pennsylvania and New York. Q: What is your favorite thing about teaching at Prescott? I feel very honored to be a part of our diverse, caring, and growing school community at Prescott! I love partnering with Prescott families and have learned so much from my students and their parents. I feel incredibly lucky to co-teach with our caring, insightful, and wonderfully talented assistant teacher, Ms. Tate. Additionally, I feel really good about sending "my little ones" up through the grade levels here at Prescott. I become attached to my students, and I am comforted to know that Prescott has fantastic K-8th grade teachers. It is so unique for a school to have such a strong professional community. Q: What do you like to do when you're not teaching? I enjoy biking, walking, relaxing, and reading by the lakefront, especially in the company of Brit (my husband) or my friends. I also enjoy yoga and hiking. During breaks, I love to travel and learn about other countries and cultures. I recently traveled to Ghana, West Africa, for a close friend's wedding. I also enjoy spending holidays with my family and my 8 godchildren! Q: Tell us something your students would be surprised to know about you. I attended second grade at a public French-speaking school in Belgium when my family was there on a Fulbright. I remember what it was  like to be a second language learner in a foreign culture and have a lot of empathy for my students and families from other countries and cultures!  

 

Chatting With: Ms.Tate, Pre-Kindergarten

Q: Can you tell us a little about your background? My undergraduate degree is in Visual Arts with an emphasis on painting and ceramics. This background supports and influences my work with children, aiding their creativity and exploration in all areas! I completed my graduate studies at Erikson Institute and have a M.S. in Child Development. Before working at Prescott I worked with children for 9 years as a childcare provider, reading tutor, art instructor, co-teacher and as an intern in an Early Head Start program. This is now my 3rd year at Prescott. Q: What is your favorite thing about Prescott? I really like the strong sense of community here. During the first year I worked at Prescott, the school was almost closed; it was amazing to see this small community band together and fight for Prescott and be triumphant! Since then the faculty, staff, parents, students and community members have continued to work to improve Prescott and make it a great neighborhood school. It feels good to be surrounded by people who believe in what they are doing and are motivated to help all of our students be successful. On a more personal note, I cannot imagine another job where 40 people are truly excited to see me every day…it helps me get up in the morning! Q: What do you like to do when you're not teaching? I love to ride my bike, swim, paint, read, cook, and eat. I also love doing any sort of activity outside. I go to concerts, dance, laugh and enjoy the company of my friends and family. Q: Tell us something your students would be surprised to know about you. I am one of the founding members of a small local theatre company, New Suit Theatre. We are a group of Chicago theatre artists dedicated to improving the communities we live in, the way in which we view ourselves and our neighbors, and the actions we take every day that will one day represent our chapter in history. We use the power of compelling storytelling to help educate our audience.